Arguments for staying in the single market miss the point of Brexit

SIR – Christopher Booker (Review, March 12) misses the point with his warnings of disaster for Britain outside the single market and customs union.

To avoid appalling political consequences, the Prime Minister has to seek a clean break in order to fulfil the wishes of the majority, who were told what leaving the EU would mean.

I am worried about what would happen if we took Mr Booker’s advice and continued to be tied to an institution we had no control over. The complications of leaving should not be used as an excuse for half-measures. The purpose of leaving is to show that Britain does not wish to be subject to unelected, unaccountable, profligate rule that hinders trade and prosperity.

Moreover, the hole in the EU budget left by Brexit would soon be filled if the EU were serious about tackling the huge losses incurred by the mismanagement of its accounts. A wholly self-governing Britain is surely a better place without all that. SIR – Despite all that we are currently hearing about the problems we will encounter during the Brexit process, I am convinced that most difficulties will be resolved for one simple reason: namely, the desire of all concerned to continue to do business.

The profit motive on both sides of the Channel will smooth the way for a painless departure. SIR – A hard Brexit without a trade deal would be a disaster. It would leave Britain isolated, without any political presence in Europe, and we would presumably have to operate under World Trade Organisation rules.

There is a way round the problem. Britain could adopt the “Swiss model’’ by joining the European Free Trade Association (Efta), made up of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Switzerland, unlike the other members, is not part of the European Economic Area and is broadly outside EU control, trading in the single market through bespoke agreements.

Efta is a “looser” organisation than the EU and deals only with trade barriers. Tariffs between Efta countries and the EU were abolished in 1984, and a free trade area now exists between the EU and Efta states. SIR – I hope that our Brexit negotiators will remember the cost of entry into the Common Market when the EU has the gall to suggest that Britain should be subject to an exit fee.

I particularly remember the “green pound”, by which our farmers were paid less for their output than our European neighbours.

The real price of entry was that the Franco-German alliance of agriculture and industry should not be disturbed, and it is no surprise that British industry was subsequently run down as well.